yea i know it sounds stupid but anyway, i had my car up on stands and when i started the car in neutral (5spd) the wheels began to spin and kept doing so for about 15-20 seconds. Why would this happen? thanks guys

 

because ur in Neutral....Neutral means that ur car not in a Foward or Reverse gear and able to spin freely

 

I think he means that they were spinning by themselves. i think thats norma.

 

probably because the tranny oil was cold. in synchromesh transmissions the gears are always engaged, they just spin freely on the shaft until they are locked unto it by a collar when you put it in gear. when the oil is cold there could be enough friction between the gears and the shaft itself to tranfser some power. Still kinda weird tho, woulda freaked me out.

 

good info - thanks! yea it did freak me out a little. this may sound weird but i thought it maybe that something was not lined up correctly within the transmission causing unwanted gear selection and thus the spinning of the wheels. However not a full engagement of a certain gear bc this would obviously cause stalling.

 

I notice strange behavior w/ my tranny when cold-starting too. Obviously I have to push in the clutch in order to start the car. But when I let up on it, if my parking break isn't set and my foot isn't on the break pedal, the car will actually roll forward a foot or so even if though in neutral. It's been doing it for years so I'm used to it, but I never actually knew WHY until just now.... thanks.

 

Actually I had mine up on jacks just the other day myself and I revved it in neutral and the wheels spun. The guy next to me told me that there is always a little power going to the tranny, just not enough to matter when there's weight on the wheels. Interesting...

 

I think, but I'm not sure, it has something to do with the weight being removed from the axles...or something like that.

 

I work in a mechanic shop and I can tell you that it's normal for the wheels to spin for a COUPLE of seconds...not to keep spining in neutral

 

^^^^ ok good, thats what happened - thanks